Causes, Characteristics, and Consequences of Metabolically Unhealthy Normal Weight in Humans

Publication date: 1 August 2017
Source:Cell Metabolism, Volume 26, Issue 2
Author(s): Norbert Stefan, Fritz Schick, Hans-Ulrich Häring
A BMI in the normal range associates with a decreased risk of cardiometabolic disease and all-cause mortality. However, not all subjects in this BMI range have this low risk. Compared to people who are of normal weight and metabolically healthy, subjects who are of normal weight but metabolically unhealthy (∼20% of the normal weight adult population) have a greater than 3-fold higher risk of all-cause mortality and/or cardiovascular events. Here we address to what extent major risk phenotypes determine metabolic health in lean compared to overweight and obese people and provide support for the existence of a lipodystrophy-like phenotype in the general population. Furthermore, we highlight the molecular mechanisms that induce this phenotype. Finally, we propose strategies as to how this knowledge could be implemented in the prevention and treatment of cardiometabolic diseases in different stages of adiposity in routine clinical practice.

Teaser

Stefan et al. highlight that metabolically unhealthy normal weight (MUHNW) patients have an unexpectedly high risk of cardiometabolic mortality. Furthermore, they provide data indicating that the MUHNW class may represent a lipodystrophy-like phenotype in the general population and address implications of this phenotype for the prevention and treatment of cardiometabolic diseases.


http://ift.tt/2vqbHbz